Another company promising real AR-vision: Laster Technologies has started promoting their SmartVision technology, and it has got me excited. This is the first time I see AR goggles with transparent glasses. The goggles themselves are starting to look like normal glasses. The company says they expect to have a consumer product in the next two years. This is one I would love to try.
In the interview with Claire Boonstra from Layar the idea of Augmented Reality glasses or even contact-lenses was proposed as a certain future. According to Claire the question is not whether we will see immersive AR vision, the question is how soon. It seems she might be right.
While we might still have to wait a little for the contact-lenses, Gizmodo shows us some stuff from ARE 2010, the big Augmented Reality Event in the U.S. where Tanagram Partners showed the world their army Goggles. This is just one example (using transparent OLED screens, pricy stuff) but my guess is we will start seeing alternatives that target the consumermarket soon. By the way, Tanagram Partners have announced that the iPhone version of their product will be ready in 2011. Consumer war supplies? Only in America.
Video mapping is an exciting use of technology that brings video projection on 3D-objects (like buildings) to the next level. The difference between normal and video mapped projections is that the projection itself is 3-Dimensional, instead of a 2-Dimensional layer that is projected onto a 3-Dimensional surface. This is done by creating a 3D model of the object on which is being projected, and using this model to add reality to the projection. The video below is the first one I saw that really blew my mind.
Augmented Reality today is possible because through the combination of GPS + Compass your location and direction are determined. Data can be added to coördinates, so when your GPS+Compass device is in range of these coördinates it will show this data. The problem is that GPS chips are not very accurate. There is another way.
Google has the streetview technology. If we have software that cross-references images of what you see with this streetview database (kind of like how Shazam cross-references the music you hear with their music-database) we can accurately determine what your position is. Google plans to do so with Google Goggles.
Microsoft is working on similar technology. After Bing Search, they created Bing Maps and Bing Explore and Photosynth. Their getting pretty good at it. With Photosynth microsoft can now create streetview perspective from user-generated content. So Microsoft doesn’t have to drive through every city with a camera mounted to a car, all the photo’s people shoot get synthesized together to make a streetview perspective. What they can do with this? Check it out, it’s amazing.
Augmented Reality is a phenomenon, constructed by fusing many digital technologies together. On this blog I will post updates on these layers of technology that are a part of Augmented Reality, or will be so.
I want to start out by showing you this TED talk by Pranav Mistry. Pranav invented Sixth Sense during his work at the Fluid Interfaces group of MIT’s Media Lab, which is showcased in this movie. I was stunned. So will you be.
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